Our new residential and teaching space on Walton Street for 2016 and beyond

The Auditorium

One of the most innovative spaces at Cohen Quadrangle is the auditorium. It is a multi-purpose space that will enable Exeter to offer modern and flexible performance facilities to all manner of people, be they speakers, musicians, actors or dancers. This is Exeter’s creative hub!

The auditorium will be able to seat 110 people in a variety of ways. Filled with natural light and boasting top-of-the-range audiovisual equipment, this will be a venue for talks, performances and concerts as well as drinks and dinner events. It will also be an inspiring place to study for small groups of students, Fellows and visitors.

Architect’s rendering of the auditorium from the inside, with a view across the North Quad to the Learning Commons and the hanging room

The room will have a side entrance so that members of the general public can access the space directly from Worcester Place, without being required to walk through the rest of the building. It also has a service lane right next to it to facilitate the transport of equipment and furniture, as well as a cloakroom and box office area.

The auditorium’s distinctive curved roof made of glulam supports is now under construction, as you can see from the following photos. The roof will boast a ‘green’ section beneath its curve, planted up with hardy evergreen shrubs that offer an attractive view for the student bedrooms that overlook this space.

The auditorium under construction, viewed from one of the residential floors at Cohen QuadThe auditorium under construction, viewed from Worcester PlaceClose-up of the glulam supports that sustain the curved roof. The shrubs that form the ‘green roof’ will be planted along the straight line you can see starting to form in the foreground Architect’s rendering of the completed auditorium (in the foreground, with the bicycle racks alongside it) with its curved wall and roof. The ‘green roof’ lies beneath the curve, fully visible from the student bedrooms that look out over this part of the siteCohen Quad’s ground floor plan with the auditorium circled. Note the side entrance from Worcester Place (far left), meaning visitors are not required to walk the length of Cohen Quad to reach this space

The room will also boast a performance-standard grand piano, as well as space for instrument storage. Donations to enable the College to purchase a new piano would be very warmly welcomed!